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Blue Tyson · 01-15-2012, 01:09 AM

It isn't Amazon, it is the publishers. e.g. you check the prices and they are ridiculously high at Google ebooks, at Kobo, at Fishpond, at Borders as mentioned...

As far as I can see they are doing it for their own protection, here - long have we had triple priced books that prop up foreign publishers with fat margins. If the paper bookshops here charging such high prices go away, there is very little need for most of the 'local' subsidiaries of the foreigners - as they are middlemen that can disappear.

As at the moment we get for a foreign book :-

UK author - UK publisher - UK printer - UK distributor - UK retailer for a book

When sold in a shop here it is

UK author - UK publisher - UK printer - UK distributor - aeroplane - Australian publisher - possibly Australian printer (or just a books ticker) - Australian distributor - Australian retailer (who has to wait for the several middlemen in the chain to get their act together, putting them at further competitive disadvantage)

For a digital book you don't need the plane and :

UK author - UK publisher - UK retailer (Amazon)

Is all that is needed. So a several supply chain step distintermediation.

Getting a single copy Australian book print on demand from LULU or someone in the USA will still be cheaper than getting a standard book in a shop here - and considerably cheaper at that.

So it would appear they have decided - and it smells of desperation - that Australians need to be made to pay for massively overpriced product digitally as well to try and prevent this.

Take one of Harry's 8 pound books in the UK. If the publisher gets about half, then they get 4 pounds a book to spread around. Or 12 dollars say, round number.

That same book is $35 here, then they get 17.50.

If the sales for a title look like : -

Two thirds of the sales in the UK, one third in AUS/NZ etc.

Sales :

UK 10000 - Revenue 60000
AU 5000 - Revenue 87500

With a few other international trade related costs, presumably.

Or that would be 59% of revenue from a far smaller population. 60 odd million in UK, 20 million AU, 4 million NZ. So the UK proportion of UK/AU/NZ is on the order of 2/3, 70% or whatever, around there.

Some publisher titles from the UK of course will have zero interest in Australia. Genre fiction is not one of those things, though.

So overcharging us so much props up the UK operations significantly.

01-15-2012, 01:09 AM	#63
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	It isn't Amazon, it is the publishers. e.g. you check the prices and they are ridiculously high at Google ebooks, at Kobo, at Fishpond, at Borders as mentioned... As far as I can see they are doing it for their own protection, here - long have we had triple priced books that prop up foreign publishers with fat margins. If the paper bookshops here charging such high prices go away, there is very little need for most of the 'local' subsidiaries of the foreigners - as they are middlemen that can disappear. As at the moment we get for a foreign book :- UK author - UK publisher - UK printer - UK distributor - UK retailer for a book When sold in a shop here it is UK author - UK publisher - UK printer - UK distributor - aeroplane - Australian publisher - possibly Australian printer (or just a books ticker) - Australian distributor - Australian retailer (who has to wait for the several middlemen in the chain to get their act together, putting them at further competitive disadvantage) For a digital book you don't need the plane and : UK author - UK publisher - UK retailer (Amazon) Is all that is needed. So a several supply chain step distintermediation. Getting a single copy Australian book print on demand from LULU or someone in the USA will still be cheaper than getting a standard book in a shop here - and considerably cheaper at that. So it would appear they have decided - and it smells of desperation - that Australians need to be made to pay for massively overpriced product digitally as well to try and prevent this. Take one of Harry's 8 pound books in the UK. If the publisher gets about half, then they get 4 pounds a book to spread around. Or 12 dollars say, round number. That same book is $35 here, then they get 17.50. If the sales for a title look like : - Two thirds of the sales in the UK, one third in AUS/NZ etc. Sales : UK 10000 - Revenue 60000 AU 5000 - Revenue 87500 With a few other international trade related costs, presumably. Or that would be 59% of revenue from a far smaller population. 60 odd million in UK, 20 million AU, 4 million NZ. So the UK proportion of UK/AU/NZ is on the order of 2/3, 70% or whatever, around there. Some publisher titles from the UK of course will have zero interest in Australia. Genre fiction is not one of those things, though. So overcharging us so much props up the UK operations significantly.